Sunset Over Misty Lake

by Margaret Standafer

  And now, Karen’s return was less than an hour away. He’d done it. There’d been a few frantic moments with the twins when they’d both screamed, and Joe’d been helpless to figure out why. There’d been a couple times when he’d said yes to Dylan’s pleas for another video or another yogurt because it had been the easier thing to do. But there’d also been many moments that he’d been awed and grateful to have experienced.

  Evan rolled over and Joe had been there to see it. So many firsts of Dylan’s had happened when he’d been at work and there’d always been a pang of regret at having missed them. He knew Karen would have the same feelings when he told her about Evan. Dylan read his favorite book to the twins and it had brought tears to Joe’s eyes. Sure, Dylan had only managed a few of the words, but he’d carefully turned each page and had held the book out to his brother and sister to show them the pictures. Joe was still kicking himself for not getting his phone out sooner to record it for Karen, but he’d been so blown away and so overwhelmed, he’d just sat and watched until the last page.

  Joe hoped Karen would come home from the conference recharged and not regretting her time away because for as much as he’d missed her, he wouldn’t trade his seventy-six hours alone with his kids for anything.

  The rumbling of the garage door had Joe jumping to his feet.

  “Mommy’s home!”

  Dylan dove onto the couch to look out the window. “Mommy!” he shouted, then flew to the door.

  Joe scooped him up, and they went out the door into the garage together. Dylan wriggled and bounced until Joe let him down. The moment Karen was out of the van, Dylan was in her arms.

  “Oh, sweetie, I missed you so much,” Karen said as she buried her face in his hair.

  “Hi, baby, welcome home.”

  “Hi. How’d everything go?”

  “Fine. Better than fine. We all missed you, though.”

  “And I missed you.”

  Karen kept her face hidden behind Dylan, despite his bouncing. When Joe finally caught sight of her face, it was tear-streaked.

  “Oh, honey. You’re home. Everything’s okay. Come on, let’s go inside.”

  Joe shouldered her bag. Karen leaned against him and he felt as if he half carried her into the house.

  Once inside, he set her bag down then took her purse from her shoulder.

  “I think I hear your phone.”

  “Leave it. It’s been ringing but I’m too tired to talk to anyone. Are Julia and Evan awake?”

  “They weren’t, but that could have changed. Dylan gave quite a cheer when he spotted you.”

  Karen smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

  “Come and sit down. You look exhausted. I hoped you’d get some rest. Guess I should have known better when I found out Heidi was there,” Joe said with a grin. “Did you two make up for lost time?”

  “We did, but I should’ve slept more when I had the chance.”

  Karen stumbled as she started out of the kitchen. Joe’s radar went crazy.

  “You need to sit down. Are you sure you’re not sick? You’re so pale.” He took her hand. “Karen, you’re shaking.”

  Karen glanced down at Dylan who was glued to her side. She looked from Dylan to Joe and shook her head. Joe got the message.

  “At least sit down.”

  Karen’s phone hummed again. She groaned and scowled at her purse.

  “Want me to get it?”

  Before she could answer, her phone quieted and Joe’s chimed. He pulled it from his pocket. “It’s your mom.”

  Karen sighed. “She called earlier, just as I was getting off the shuttle. I wanted to get going, so I didn’t answer. I’ll call her later. I’m sure she’s checking to see that I got home.”

  “Let me tell her you’ll call tomorrow.”

  “Joe, she’ll insist on talking—”

  But Joe had already answered.

  “Hi, Rita. Karen’s home safe and sound.”

  Joe listened, then drew in a sharp breath and locked his eyes on Karen.

  “Okay, okay, we’ll be right there.”

  “What is it? Joe, what’s wrong? Tell me.”

  Karen’s voice rose with each word until she sounded hysterical. Joe watched any color she may have had drain from her face. She trembled visibly now.

  “Honey, sit down.”

  She shook her head. When she opened her mouth, no sound came out.

  “It’s your grandfather. He had a stroke.”

  Karen stared, eyes wide and unseeing. Then with a shudder, her knees buckled. Joe caught her a moment before she hit the kitchen floor.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “GRANDPA’S STABLE. THE doctor’s optimistic.”

  It was all Karen could manage before she fell into a vacant chair in the waiting room. She felt as though she’d been at the hospital for days, but a peek at the clock told her it was closer to three hours.

  “What did he say? When can we see him? Are there going to be long-term effects?”

  Rita whispered the words in an effort to shield Karen’s grandmother, but Karen knew her grandma heard and hung on every syllable. She’d been in the same spot since Karen arrived, her lips moving silently and her fingers travelling over the beads of her rosary, but she hadn’t missed a word regarding her husband.

  “I only talked with him for a minute, and that’s because he’s doing me a courtesy. He’ll be out to talk to all of us when he can. When he knows more.”

  Rita’s eyes spoke volumes.

  “Mom, I don’t know any more. You may be able to visit later, for a minute, but as far as a diagnosis, it’s too soon to tell.”

  “But long-term? What do you think?”

  Karen wouldn’t sugarcoat things to make her family feel better. There was no point in that. The truth was, she didn’t know any specifics, but she’d seen enough to know generalities.

  “Some long-term effects are likely. How severe, I just don’t know. All we can do is wait and see. The good news is that medication was administered well within the time frame for it to be effective. According to Grandma, it was less than an hour from the time she first noticed something off with Grandpa until he was here. That’s very good news and means a positive outcome is much more likely.”

  “I remembered fast. F-A-S-T. Like you taught us.” It was the first she’d spoken since a quick greeting when Karen arrived. The voice was soft, but it didn’t falter.

  Karen went to her grandmother and knelt in front of her. Reaching for her hands to steady herself as much as her grandmother, Karen was shocked by the ice-cold fingers that greeted her. She studied her grandmother’s hands, the paper-thin skin, the bulging knuckles, and the prominent blue veins like a complicated map of a long, well-lived life. Karen had always known those hands to be strong. They were the hands that still baked cookies and banana bread; the hands that still insisted on roasting the Thanksgiving turkey; the hands that still tended the garden and the countless flower pots that dotted her yard; the hands that soothed, calmed, reassured, and supported all of her children, her grandchildren, and her great grandchildren. The hands Karen had loved her entire life. Now, Karen squeezed and willed whatever strength she had into her grandmother.

  “That’s good, Grandma. Really good. I’m so glad you remembered what to watch for. Time is critical, and you did exactly the right thing calling 911 right away.”

  There was the slightest crack in the armor, a tremble in her grandmother’s hands as they clutched the rosary tighter.

  “He wasn’t speaking clearly. At first, I thought he was tired, we’d been working in the yard, but I realized it was more than that. The side of his face was drooping.” With the last words, her voice cracked with her sob.

  “Oh, Grandma, try not to worry. We should know more soon, but we have every reason to be optimistic. Grandpa’s healthy, he’s strong, and you saw to it that he was here quickly. All that adds up to him having a good chance of coming through this without any serious long-term issues.”<
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  “But what if—”

  “No. We’re not going to think about what-ifs right now. We’re going to wait until we hear from the doctor and we have a better idea of what Grandpa’s facing. And when we know, we’ll deal with it. We’ll do whatever it takes. We’ll all be here for him and for you.”

  Her grandmother nodded. “Do you think you can find out anything else? It’s been a long time.”

  Karen pushed the hair that had long escaped its tie out of her face and took a moment to rub at her grainy eyes. “Sure, Grandma. Let me see what I can find out.”

  It was well past midnight when Joe and Karen walked back into their kitchen. Despite the late hour, Anna and Sean sat at the kitchen table, lights blazing and the coffee hot.

  “How’s Leonard?” Anna asked.

  Karen lifted one shoulder. “He’s stable. It’s going to take some time to know exactly how much damage there is, but we’re hopeful. The doctors have been able to eliminate some of the worst possibilities.”

  “That’s good news,” Anna said. “And Cecelia?”

  “Grandma’s strong, but she’s scared. She was able to see Grandpa for a minute. It helped. We convinced her to go home after promising she could get back to the hospital first thing in the morning. Mom’s staying the night with her.” Karen shrugged again, feeling both impossibly tired and impossibly helpless.

  “And you. How are you?” Sean asked. “A long trip, then coming home to this news. Anna and I will stay tonight if you think it will help you get some rest, otherwise, we’ll be back first thing in the morning to stay with the kids so you can get back to the hospital.”

  “You don’t have to do that. We can handle things here. Joe can stay with the kids.”

  “Have to? No. Want to? Yes. Let us help. It’s okay to ask for help,” Sean said.

  Karen looked at Joe. She didn’t have the strength to argue. She barely had the strength to stand.

  Joe put his arm around her. “I’ll call in the morning and let you know our schedule. Thank you.”

  “Whatever you need, we’re here,” Anna said. She stood and gathered her purse and jacket. “The kids were angels tonight. I left notes on when and how much the twins ate. Dylan was in bed and asleep by eight-thirty. No problems whatsoever. We’ll see you in the morning.”

  In a flurry of hugs, Sean and Anna were out the door. Before Karen could move, Joe swept her up in his arms and started out of the kitchen.

  “What in the world are you doing? Put me down.”

  “I’ll put you down in bed, nowhere else.”

  “What’s wrong with you? I can walk.”

  “I’m sure you can, but I was also sure I’d never watch my wife faint in front of my eyes. You wouldn’t talk about it, you wouldn’t let the doctors check you out, you wouldn’t let me mention it to anyone. I did what you wanted. Now, you’re going to do what I want. You’re going to go to bed and you’re going to stay there until morning. I’ll take care of whatever needs taking care of during the night.”

  They reached the bedroom and Joe laid her carefully on her side of the bed. Starting with her shoes, he began undressing her. Karen knew it would be useless to argue, so let him finish without a word. He grabbed a t-shirt from her dresser drawer and pulled it over her head.

  “I need to go to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth.”

  “You have three minutes. Any longer and I’m coming in to get you.”

  He helped her to her feet and walked her to the bathroom. When she tried to close the door, he stuck his foot in the doorway, preventing her from locking it or even closing it tightly.

  Joe was waiting outside the door, arms crossed over his chest, when she reemerged, beating his three-minute time limit. She skirted around him before he could pick her up again.

  Her bed hugged her with softness and, even better, familiarity. She never slept well in a hotel room, even if she was in that hotel room under happy, pleasant circumstances. Given the circumstances of the past trip, it was a wonder she’d slept at all.

  Joe tucked her in then sat down next to her.

  “You need to convince me you’re okay. I don’t know how to explain to you how terrifying it was to watch you go as white as a sheet and crumble in front of me. If there’s something wrong, I have to know. Keeping something like that from me is not only unfair, it’s cruel.”

  “I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong. I promise. I was just at the doctor. I got a glowing report, the blood work was all normal, and Annie was satisfied I’m right where I should be.”

  “You were supposed to go back. She said six weeks after the last visit. That’s coming up. Have you made an appointment?”

  “Not yet, but I will. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

  “Was there a reason she wanted you back in six weeks? Is that normal after a baby?”

  “It’s routine.”

  “Then what’s going on? You fainted, Karen. You’ve never, to my knowledge, fainted before. I know you’re tired, I know the news about your grandfather was a blow, but you’ve been tired before, you’ve gotten bad news before. You’ve never had that sort of reaction.”

  Karen scraped both hands over her face, then left them there and spoke through them. “I can’t explain it. Not really.” With a sigh, she dropped her hands. “I can give you all the medical reasons a person might faint. Some are due to an underlying condition, but just as often, it’s a single, isolated event brought on by, among other things, a sudden shock. I’m exhausted. That’s not easy to admit to you because part of the upside of me going to the conference was supposed to be me getting some rest. I didn’t do that, or didn’t do enough, anyway. That, the fact that I missed my family and couldn’t wait to get home, and then the news about my grandpa, well, it’s more than enough to explain the fainting. I know you want a definite answer, a definite reason, but that’s all there is.”

  Joe’s eyes darted from side to side as they did whenever he pondered and analyzed a problem or situation. Karen braced herself for more questions and prayed she wouldn’t have to tell more lies, but in the end, Joe ran a tender hand down her hair, then cupped her cheek.

  “Okay. Get some sleep. I love you. So much.”

  Karen put her hand on top of Joe’s. “You haven’t told me how things went while I was away. How did—”

  Joe shook his head. “Tomorrow. There’ll be plenty time to talk tomorrow. Just know things went well. Very well.”

  Karen nodded. “I love you,” she mumbled, and gave in to the sandbags that had taken the place of her eyelids.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  WHILE SHE’D NEVER wish ill on anyone, Karen had to admit that the distraction of spending nearly every waking moment at the hospital was a welcome one. For a couple of days, at least. Between short visits with her grandfather, reassuring her mother and grandmother, acting as a liaison and interpreting some of the doctor speak for her family, and checking into rehabilitation facilities, Karen had barely a moment to think of anything else.

  Until the text came.

  She’d become an expert at ignoring her phone over the past several months but had taken to keeping it with her and keeping it on since her grandfather’s stroke. Both the need to be available if anything changed in her grandfather’s condition and the fear she couldn’t quell that something was going to happen to someone else she loved meant her phone was usually in her pocket. So, as she sat in the hospital cafeteria with her grandmother and her phone chimed, she pulled it from her pocket. The words registered before she could stop herself from reading.

  I think it’s time I get in touch with your husband.

  Karen slammed the phone face down on the table. Her heart boomed in her chest, so hard it hurt. Irrational fear had her looking around the crowded cafeteria wondering who else may have seen the words.

  “Karen?”

  Karen snatched the phone from the table, turned it off, then crammed it into the depths of her purse.

  “Karen.”

  “
Huh?”

  “What is it? Is it bad news?”

  After another frantic glance around the room, Karen focused on her grandmother seated across the table from her. She’d gone pale, and the hand wrapped around her coffee cup trembled violently.

  “Oh, Grandma, no, I’m sorry, no, it’s nothing. It’s not Grandpa.”

  “But you look so frightened. Was that the doctor?”

  It had to stop, she told herself. She had to stop letting her problems affect everyone around her. Seeing the terror her reaction had caused her grandmother was gut-wrenching.

  Karen got up from her chair to circle the table and take the seat next to her grandmother. She took her grandmother’s hands in hers.

  “It wasn’t the doctor. It wasn’t anything about Grandpa. I’m sorry I frightened you. That was a stupid text that keeps coming to my phone. Someone got my number. It’s nothing more than a prank call, really. I’m just getting tired of it all.”

  Her grandmother was quiet for a minute, seeming to weigh whether she believed her granddaughter. “Are they saying bad things? You looked so upset. If it’s some kind of threat, maybe you should talk to Jake.”

  Talk to Jake, Karen thought. No, she wouldn’t talk to Jake, but she recalled her decision on the way home from Las Vegas to get help. She may have been successful pushing the mess from her mind for a couple of days, but she couldn’t ignore it any longer. The text was proof of that.

  “I’m sure it’s nothing. Like I said, it’s just a prank.”

  Cecelia didn’t look convinced. “I still think you should mention it to Jake. You told me about Riley’s wife getting those messages when she was working on the inn. That was a bad situation. I don’t want to see you wind up involved in anything dangerous.”

  “Please don’t worry. If it doesn’t stop, I’ll talk to Jake.”

  Lying again. This time, to her grandmother. How low she’d sunk. “Let’s go check on Grandpa.”